Microsoft To End Support For Windows Phone, RT and TV Skype Users on July 1

Microsoft has been working on the backend of Skype to move its entire platform from P2P services to a cloud-based operation. As of earlier this year, this transition is complete and now the company is ready to move away from older applications.

If you are using Skype on Windows Phone 8 or 8.1, Windows RT, the messaging app for Windows 10 Mobile, or on a TV, these apps will stop working on July 1, 2017. The company has started notifying users on these platforms that these applications will cease to function after this date.

This announcement shouldn’t come as a huge surprise as the company announced last year that they would eventually be ending support for these platforms. What they did not do at that time was provide the specific date that they would sunset these products.

If you are using these apps, after July 1, 2017 you are left with few options. If you can access a web browser, you can use Skype on the web but as for native apps, you’ll need a new piece of hardware to be able to access the platform.

And given how much Microsoft values monthly active users of its software, seeing as they are ending support for these platforms tells us that the user base is incredibly small on these platforms.

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I don't understand. The Messaging app for Windows 10 Mobile? Is that the built-in SMS client? What does that have to do with ending support for Skype? How will Windows 10 Mobile users send and receive texts?

So I think I understand what's happening on Windows 10 Mobile. I was just looking at the Skype UWP app and there is an option (which I don't currently have set) to have Skype be your default SMS client. I guess texting will be done through Skype. Makes sense: One less app for the developers to have to support, plus a more integrated experience for the user.

There is no reason to kill the Messaging App on Windows 10 Mobile. It is built in and you cannot even remove it. I know Skype can be the default Messaging App. It can also be the Default Battery Killer. How is Microsoft going to fix that?

this does seem odd as the messaging app for Windows 10 mobile has nothing to do with skype, it's an SMS client. Equally the skype UWP app on Windows 10 mobile is not on the list so much ado about nothing?

The messaging app for Windows 10 does allow skype relay so maybe it's this feature that is being disabled.

Don't know what has happened to Skype but I have it on 6 or more (older) Android smartphones and a couple of Win 10 notebooks... In the past, it was possible to go from phone to phone or to one of the notebooks (if a longer chat was under way), perhaps sending a photo from one device while typing most text on another... Now Skype is definitely confused and when trying to chat with a friend 10,000 miles away, we were not even getting notified of attempts for voice or video calls... ringing was simply not working at the other end.

continued - I can understand they may have wanted to move it to the cloud (and make intercepts a bit easier for the NSA or FBI ? Maybe even our MI5/6 etc as I am not in USA) but if that has broken it, then I see it as pretty useless as a "service"... it is certainly not working for me right now... Or maybe I should say - it's not working reliably for me, right now. (I can make a call from one phone to another easily, but there's o guarantee of connecting to others... I have tested with each smartphone using 3G or 4G and they can 'wake' the notebooks yet some contacts have been unable so to do.)

If you're still using Skype on one of the affected platforms, you'll likely have to resort to the web after July 1 in place of the native apps. For Windows Phone users, the most logical move would be to Windows 10 Mobile if possible; the new universal Skype app recently shed its preview tag and is ready for primetime.

One thing that might be worth clarifying is that the "TV" support referred to here is the apps that were on a handful of Smart TVs. At least for now, it looks like the XBox One/Kinnect app will continue to provide probably the best option for someone wanting to use Skype on the TV. In fact, it just received a fairly significant update with a refresh to the UI and the much needed addition of manual zoom control.

It's a bit confusing because the "Systems Requirements" page linked to in the article doesn't list XBox at all (lumped in with Windows 10, maybe?), but it is listed if you click through the "Find out what platforms Skype is available on" link at the bottom of the page.

I definitely see Microsoft as moving away from supporting legacy platforms as long as they used to. Its get on the new wagon or be left behind. This is less about Skype and more about nudging user along to Windows 10 and that platform of apps and services. With Win 10 adoption slowing dramatically, it would be a natural move for Microsoft to begin moves to push Windows legacy users to Windows 10 in any way they can.

"Get on the new wagon or be left behind" is something that Apple users have accepted for a long time, Windows users - not so much. A company without a Reality distortion field has to serve its customers' needs to survive.

I still recall my Windows RT devices fondly, but man did that concept crash and burn. Even now, if you search "Surface 2," the top result is Microsoft's product page about the device, and MS hasn't updated the page other than to say the device is no longer sold. They haven't taken down pricing, references to accessories, or specs. Talk about a device they just forgot about.

I'm glad that you found your RT devices useful, but the phrase "what the hell were they thinking?" comes to mind. I'll bet they didn't do any market research to determine if there was demand for such a product.

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